 What is built heritage?

Built heritage means those buildings, artifacts,

structures, areas and precincts that are of historic,
aesthetic, architectural or cultural significance and
should include natural features within such areas or
precincts of environmental significance or scenic
beauty such as sacred groves, hills, hillocks, water
bodies (and the areas adjoining the same), open
areas, wooden areas, etc.
Why Conserve? NEED OF CONSERVATION

 The majority of India’s architectural heritage and

sites are unprotected. They constitute a unique
civilization legacy, as valuable as the monuments
legally protected by ASI/ SDA and other
governmental and non-governmental agencies.
 This legacy is being steadily eroded as a result of
insensitive modernization and urbanization, and the
fact that it does not command the same respect as
legally protected monuments.
 Many unprotected heritage sites are still in use, and
the manner in which they continue to be kept in use
represents the ‘living’ heritage of India.
 This heritage is manifest in both tangible and
intangible forms and in its diversity defines the
composite culture of the country.
 If this ‘living’ heritage is not legally protected. The
buildings and sites, which constitute it, are subject
to demolition or unsympathetic interventions.
 The knowledge of traditional building skills with
which it is associated is also in danger of being lost
in the absence of patronage and official
recognition.

Conserving the ‘living’ heritage, therefore, offers the

potential to conserve both traditional buildings and
traditional ways of building.
CONSERVATION IN INDIA

Conservation in India is heir not only to Western

conservation theories and principles introduced
through colonialism and, later, by the adoption of
guidelines formulated by UNESCO, ICOMOS and
international funding agencies, but also to pre-
existing, indigenous knowledge systems and skills
of building.

These indigenous practices vary regionally and

cannot be considered as a single system operating
all over India. This necessitates viewing
conservation practices as a multi-cultural activity.
AGENCIES IN INDIA DOING CONSERVATION:
 Buildings and sites protected by ASI, SDA and
other government or non-government agencies.
Only the official and legal instruments of
conservation and internationally accepted
principles should be adopted here.

 Other listed buildings and sites which, though not

protected by ASI, SDA and other government or
non-government agencies, possessing heritage
value or significance equivalent to that of
protected monuments. Here too, the official and
legal instruments should be adopted for their
conservation.
 The remaining listed buildings and sites both modern and
historic, including those produced within the last hundred
years. Here, the conservation strategy may adopt either
the official and legal instruments of conservation or those
rooted in indigenous building traditions.

 Hybrid strategies, inventively combining indigenous and

official practices, can also be employed to conserve this
heritage category. The decision to adopt indigenous
practices should be based on the availability of skilled and
knowledgeable raj mistris. In all cases a rationale for the
decision taken to adopt one or another system of
conservation must be recorded.
Criteria for Listing Built (Architectural) Heritage
 The first and foremost step in fulfilling the mandate of
preserving and conserving heritage is to first know what
it is. That means its inventorization or listing, which is
also meant to protect historic buildings from needless
demolition as towns and cities get redesigned and rebuilt.
 Although inter-related, the following three key concepts
need to be understood to determine whether a property is
worthy of listing:
 Historic significance
 Historic integrity
 Historic context

One or more of these concepts needs to be applicable to a

building to make it worthy of listing.
Methodology of Listing
Listing work comprises two phases:
1. Background research
2. Field work
Background Research
 Before commencing the actual fieldwork, the lister should
gather basic information from various sources including
gazettes, travel books and several other specialized books on
the history of the area to be listed. This work could be done
in the libraries and archives of various universities and other
institutions of the central government, the state government
and of private individuals or trusts.
 Background research essentially helps in identifying historic
areas, historic developments in the area, significance of the
events that may have taken place at different times,
important persons who may have shaped historical
developments, cultural developments, and similar features
that may be unique to the area.
 In some well documented areas, distinctive physical
characteristics of design, construction, materials, and forms
of buildings can also be identified.
Field Work
Before launching into field work, the lister should
collect a reliable map of the area and its various
constituents. Survey of India maps and those
available with the state department on town and
country planning should prove useful.
Field work requires lot of leg-work to scan the
heritage properties and to record information for
each property in the prescribed format. This
comprises physically inspecting the property as well
as meeting local people such as owners of the
property, talking to other residents, to local ward or
panchayat members, and knowledgeable residents
and representatives of institutions.
By conducting a dialogue with the residents, one
can determine the changes to the property over
time, ownership details, historic function and
activities, association with events and persons, and
the role of the property in local, regional or
national history.
Photography is an important component of listing.
A photograph freezes the building and its setting in
the time when it is taken. In this context, old
photographs, if available, can constitute a very
important record in the listing. A comparison
would show the changes that have occurred over
time to the building and, in particular, to its
embellishments.
Dissemination – Creating Awareness

Listing must result in its publication in a form that

can be made available to the public for information
and to such of the stakeholders that may like to use it
for area planning and for the protection, conservation
and preservation of the area’s built heritage.
HERITAGE CELLS
 Although there is increasing awareness amongst
the citizenry about the importance of protecting
and conserving cultural heritage, action to do so
is possible only when heritage regulations are in
place and the local capabilities to conserve and
restore are built up.
 For this, every municipal body and zila
panchayat should be encouraged to establish an
adequately staffed and budgeted Heritage Cell.
ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY
 One of the objectives of listing is to create and
stimulate awareness among the public for the
preservation of built heritage. The published listings
can be used in developing slide shows, power point
presentations, heritage walks, etc., to achieve this
objective.
 Such programmes can be used to make the decision
makers and stakeholders in these institutions and
authorities aware of the built heritage within their
jurisdiction and the need to preserve and conserve it.
ROLE OF THE CITIZEN
 The Constitution of India describes it as a
fundamental duty of every citizen ‘to value and
preserve the rich heritage of our composite
culture’.
 Chapters can help the citizen to dis¬charge this
duty and responsibility in the following ways:
 Identifying knowledgeable and committed
individuals who can help the Chapter in
identifying, listing and documenting buildings
and precincts that qualify for listing.
 nvolving such persons in drawing up advocacy
plans to create awareness about the need to
protect and conserve the listed built heritage
 Using the expertise of such persons to draw up
heritage trails and walks in some important
heritage areas and motivating them to
volunteer their services for such activities.
School teachers could be trained to enrich class
room teaching by taking their students for such
outdoor activities
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